diff --git a/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-102639.yaml b/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-102639.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f666f5afb40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-102639.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+kind: Fixes
+body: Fix accidental propagation of log messages to root logger.
+time: 2023-06-15T10:26:39.139421-04:00
+custom:
+  Author: peterallenwebb
+  Issue: "7872"
diff --git a/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-110538.yaml b/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-110538.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..af0d7c020aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20230615-110538.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+kind: Fixes
+body: Fixed an issue which blocked debug logging to stdout with --log-level debug,
+  unless --debug was also used.
+time: 2023-06-15T11:05:38.053387-04:00
+custom:
+  Author: peterallenwebb
+  Issue: "7872"
diff --git a/core/dbt/events/eventmgr.py b/core/dbt/events/eventmgr.py
index 55dfbd203f0..e52dae706b5 100644
--- a/core/dbt/events/eventmgr.py
+++ b/core/dbt/events/eventmgr.py
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ def _get_python_log_for_handler(self, handler: logging.Handler):
         log.setLevel(_log_level_map[self.level])
         handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(fmt="%(message)s"))
         log.handlers.clear()
+        log.propagate = False
         log.addHandler(handler)
         return log
 
diff --git a/core/dbt/events/functions.py b/core/dbt/events/functions.py
index 21bc4d3c0b3..9a1c2340a2d 100644
--- a/core/dbt/events/functions.py
+++ b/core/dbt/events/functions.py
@@ -39,14 +39,18 @@ def setup_event_logger(flags, callbacks: List[Callable[[EventMsg], None]] = [])
     else:
         if flags.LOG_LEVEL != "none":
             line_format = _line_format_from_str(flags.LOG_FORMAT, LineFormat.PlainText)
-            log_level = EventLevel.DEBUG if flags.DEBUG else EventLevel(flags.LOG_LEVEL)
+            log_level = (
+                EventLevel.ERROR
+                if flags.QUIET
+                else EventLevel.DEBUG
+                if flags.DEBUG
+                else EventLevel(flags.LOG_LEVEL)
+            )
             console_config = _get_stdout_config(
                 line_format,
-                flags.DEBUG,
                 flags.USE_COLORS,
                 log_level,
                 flags.LOG_CACHE_EVENTS,
-                flags.QUIET,
             )
             EVENT_MANAGER.add_logger(console_config)
 
@@ -81,11 +85,9 @@ def _line_format_from_str(format_str: str, default: LineFormat) -> LineFormat:
 
 def _get_stdout_config(
     line_format: LineFormat,
-    debug: bool,
     use_colors: bool,
     level: EventLevel,
     log_cache_events: bool,
-    quiet: bool,
 ) -> LoggerConfig:
 
     return LoggerConfig(
@@ -97,8 +99,6 @@ def _get_stdout_config(
         filter=partial(
             _stdout_filter,
             log_cache_events,
-            debug,
-            quiet,
             line_format,
         ),
         output_stream=sys.stdout,
@@ -107,16 +107,11 @@ def _get_stdout_config(
 
 def _stdout_filter(
     log_cache_events: bool,
-    debug_mode: bool,
-    quiet_mode: bool,
     line_format: LineFormat,
     msg: EventMsg,
 ) -> bool:
-    return (
-        (msg.info.name not in ["CacheAction", "CacheDumpGraph"] or log_cache_events)
-        and (EventLevel(msg.info.level) != EventLevel.DEBUG or debug_mode)
-        and (EventLevel(msg.info.level) == EventLevel.ERROR or not quiet_mode)
-        and not (line_format == LineFormat.Json and type(msg.data) == Formatting)
+    return (msg.info.name not in ["CacheAction", "CacheDumpGraph"] or log_cache_events) and not (
+        line_format == LineFormat.Json and type(msg.data) == Formatting
     )
 
 
@@ -147,11 +142,9 @@ def _get_logbook_log_config(
 ) -> LoggerConfig:
     config = _get_stdout_config(
         LineFormat.PlainText,
-        debug,
         use_colors,
-        EventLevel.DEBUG if debug else EventLevel.INFO,
+        EventLevel.ERROR if quiet else EventLevel.DEBUG if debug else EventLevel.INFO,
         log_cache_events,
-        quiet,
     )
     config.name = "logbook_log"
     config.filter = (
@@ -183,7 +176,7 @@ def cleanup_event_logger():
 EVENT_MANAGER.add_logger(
     _get_logbook_log_config(False, True, False, False)  # type: ignore
     if ENABLE_LEGACY_LOGGER
-    else _get_stdout_config(LineFormat.PlainText, False, True, EventLevel.INFO, False, False)
+    else _get_stdout_config(LineFormat.PlainText, True, EventLevel.INFO, False)
 )
 
 # This global, and the following two functions for capturing stdout logs are